Facing a major capital investment in order to expand its ATM fleet, Dade County Federal Credit Union in Florida opted instead for the lower-cost, lower-hassle strategy of outsourcing its new ATMs to Dolphin Debit, the full-service ATM management company.
Dade County FCU is a 79-year-old credit union with more than 95,000 members, assets of $774.5 million, and a dozen branches. It serves members in Miami-Dade County as well as numerous select employee groups (SEGs).
The Miami-based credit union in 2017 was looking to add 15 new ATMs, to be located at SEG sites, but that was going to be a costly approach, said Robert Plasencia, Vice President of Compliance and Fraud for Dade County Federal Credit Union.
“The cost associated with rolling out these ATMs was what led me to Dolphin Debit. We decided to go with Dolphin due to the full managed service they provide and their pricing,” Plasencia said.
“I have been very impressed with the rollout of the machines,” he added. “Once we decide on a new location, the turnaround time is very good, and the terminals themselves are extremely reliable. The Dolphin Debit service has been exceptional.”
Dade County FCU has a mixed ATM fleet, with 15 Dolphin Debit ATMs out of a current total of 51.
Plasencia added that with the Dolphin Debit ATMs, if there are any machine issues, technicians respond immediately to fix the problem and the credit union doesn’t have to be concerned with managing them on a day-to-day basis.
“With our mixed fleet, we do have involvement with the other machines, but I definitely see the advantage of having ATMs with Dolphin. I can see that the Dolphin ATMs have more uptime, so they are generating more revenue, and we are getting fewer complaints.”
Dade County FCU is adding three more Dolphin Debit ATMs this summer, and considering more in the future.
“A larger credit union is often able to move part of its fleet to Dolphin Debit, and then have the chance to see the benefits when compared to the rest of the fleet,” said Gary Walston, co-founder of Dolphin Debit. “We welcome those opportunities, because it allows us to highlight the contrast and really demonstrate the advantages of turning over ATM management to us.”